Multichannel TDC provides 81-ps timing resolution

The id800 TDC (time-to-digital converter) from Swiss
manufacturer ID Quantique is used to transfer the time tags of registered
events with picosecond precision and at high rates to a computer. It registers
incoming signal events on eight independent channels, records their exact time
and channel number with 81-ps timing resolution (bin size), and communicates
these to a PC via its USB 2.0 interface. Additionally, the instrument can count
single and multiple-channel coincidence events.

Applications for the time-to-digital converter include
time-correlated single-photon counting, LIDAR, correlation measurement, quantum
optics, optical measurements, precision time measurement, and fluorescence
microscopy. A graphical user interface is supplied with the id800 for Windows
and Linux, along with software examples for C/C++ and LabView. The converter,
which is 250◊100◊300 mm, operates from a power supply of 110 VAC to 230 VAC and
has BNC input connectors. Input levels are LVTTL with 5-V tolerance.

The id800 time-to-digital converter is scheduled for
release Q3, 2012.